#Religion @OMG Faith db8 in 21st Century

David Cowan
Boisi Center, Boston College

Abstract: How do we communicate about religion and faith in the 21st Century? This presentation will assess this question and offer some lines of inquiry in the context of globalization. Firstly by taking a look at changes and trends in communication in recent years, with changes in technology and the transmission of ideas. Secondly, an examination of how the Christian churches have sought to communicate the content of faith and remain relevant, responding to changes in spiritual and ethical debates in the public square, while engaging in religious dialogue with other faiths.

David Cowan is a visiting scholar at the Boisi Center during the Spring 2014 semester, where he is researching diplomacy and communication regarding religion in American foreign policy, with a focus on Christianity and Islam. A senior tutor in Politics and Religion at King’s Evangelical Divinity School and approved tutor at the University of Chester, he is also a communications advisor with over twenty-five years experience working for such organizations as the World Bank and the Institute of Islamic Banking & Insurance. He has lived and worked in North America, Europe and the Middle East. He is the author of Strategic Internal Communication (2014) and Economic Parables: The Monetary Teachings of Jesus Christ (2007), among other works. He is also a regular reviewer for the Journal of Theological Studies. Cowan earned his Ph.D. at the University of St. Andrews, jointly undertaken in the School of Divinity and the School of International Relations, and holds a B.Th. and M.Th. from the University of Oxford, an M.Litt. from the University of St. Andrews, and a Diploma in Theology from Westfield House, Cambridge, where he was Lutheran chaplain to the University of Cambridge.